Woman among 24 Palestinians arrested by Israeli army in West Bank raids

By Aysar Alais

ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli forces arrested 24 Palestinians, including a woman, during raids across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office.

Israeli forces carried out early morning raids and arrests in several areas of the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, the office said in a statement.

The campaign included home raids and searches that damaged property, and led to the arrest of a woman and several young men, the statement said.

Israeli forces detained 10 Palestinians after raiding the towns of Yatta and Idhna in the southern West Bank’s Hebron governorate, the office added.

Four others were arrested in the Bethlehem-area towns of Beit Ta’mar, Al-Fawaghra and Tuqu’, after troops searched their homes, the statement added.

In the town of Anata, northeast of East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian woman after raiding her family’s home, the office said.

In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested nine Palestinians during raids in the governorates of Nablus, Tulkarem and Jenin.

The Israeli army typically does not disclose the reasons for such detentions, which it often describes as part of what it calls “security operations” targeting individuals it labels as “wanted.”

More than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 58 women and 350 children, according to figures released by the Palestinian Prisoner Society.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank since it launched its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation — including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion — as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.

At least 1,112 Palestinians have been killed and about 11,500 injured in the West Bank during that period, and more than 21,000 people have been arrested.

*Writing by Lina Altawell